About Us

The idea behind zoocrew.eu came from four photographer friends with a shared passion for wildlife. Neal and Helen McClimon, Heiko and
Natalie Carstens are regular zoo visitors. Day trips to nearby zoos soon became weekends away to visit further away ones and before
long they had visited many of the zoos in the Benelux countries.

Each zoo visit would spark a discussion about the variety and health of the animals, the quality of enclosures,
observation areas and information points, amongst many other things. It was during a weekend visit to two zoos in Belgium that one of their discussions led them to realise the importance of promoting the conservation projects and breeding
programmes that are funded and supported by the various zoos. Unquestionably, more needs to be done in this area
in order to increase public support, and the discussion naturally led to the idea of officially
reviewing zoos as a way of promoting these very important and worthwhile projects as well as providing a central resource for zoo, wildlife and conservation information.

Consequently, on 01 January 2008, Natalie and Heiko launched zoocrew.eu

Take a look at our mission statement to see what we are aiming to
do and what we are hoping to achieve.

Meet the founders...

When I was a child I never thought that zoos were doing anything other than displaying animals. In reality, zoos are doing much more than just that. They are very much involved in conservation work and many participate in breeding programmes for endangered species. Some of the most amazing experiences in my life have been the opportunities to see these animals in the wild, in India and Africa ...but how much longer will they be there? Ultimately, it is the human influence that has put our wildlife into the terrible situations some of them now face and I hope we will be able to make others aware that it is up to us to put this right.

Six weeks in South Africa training to be a safari field guide completely
changed my outlook on life. I discovered a deep passion for wildlife and nature, and I became
obsessed with photography as I tried to capture each special moment. Nothing beats seeing
wildlife in their own untouched environment. If we want future generations to have the privilege
of
seeing wildlife in the wild, then we have to pay for it and contribute to conservation projects
across the globe. Collectively, I believe we can change attitudes and really make a
difference.